The Registrar, Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, has restated that the board is not an examination body but an educational assessment and admission agency, stressing that its core mandate is to facilitate entry into tertiary institutions.

Oloyede made the clarification while speaking at the maiden Rite Foods National Academic Excellence Awards, held at the Civic Centre, Lagos, where seven undergraduates shared N35m in prizes.

Speaking, Oloyede stressed that JAMB’s function is often misunderstood in Nigeria, where many tend to equate it with traditional examination bodies such as the West African Examination Council and the National Examinations Council.

He said, “We conduct exams, but we are not an examination company. You cannot say the University of Lagos is an examination body because it conducts examinations.

The same way, JAMB conducts exams, but JAMB is not an examination body,” he said.

He explained that while examination is one of JAMB’s operational tools, the board’s primary responsibility is admission into tertiary institutions.

“If you want to know what an examination body is, look at WAEC or NECO. Their names clearly show they are examination bodies. JAMB is an educational assessment body, and its goal is admission, not examination,” he added.

The JAMB boss noted that undue emphasis placed on the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination in Nigeria has led to misconceptions about the board’s role.

“There is a hype about UTME in Nigeria. People believe it is the golden key to tertiary institutions. It is not so,” he said, explaining that admission is determined by multiple stages and not UTME scores alone.

He stressed that candidates’ performance in UTME is only one component in a broader admission process that also considers other qualifications required by institutions.

Oloyede further explained that celebrating UTME high scores without considering eligibility for admission could be misleading.

“Many people have high scores but do not have the required subject combinations or qualifications for admission. That is why celebrating UTME alone can be misleading,” he said.

According to him, JAMB serves as a clearing house for the multitude of candidates and is designed to ensure fairness and proper placement of candidates into tertiary institutions based on merit and requirements.

He maintained that the board will continue to emphasise its role as an admission-focused agency rather than an examination body, noting that public understanding of its mandate is critical to reducing misconceptions about the UTME process.

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The Federal Government’s newly approved reform of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) splits the orientation programme into three distinct phases and introduces 11 specialised career streams that corps members will select from at registration, according to details provided by the Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Policy Coordination, Hadiza Bala Usman, on Monday.

The Federal Executive Council on Monday approved the comprehensive overhaul of the 53-year-old scheme, with the Minister of Youth Development, Ayodele Olawande, describing it as the first holistic review of NYSC since it was established in 1973.

Briefing State House correspondents alongside Olawande after the FEC meeting in Abuja, Usman gave further details on how the reform would restructure the orientation camp experience and reshape how corps members are trained and deployed.

Here is all you need to know about the new structure:

The orientation camp now runs in three phases

The orientation programme, extended from three weeks to six, will be broken into three two-week phases, Usman said.

The first two weeks will focus on civic responsibility, national values and leadership development.

The next two weeks will cover career mapping, basic accounting and financial literacy, business planning and access to finance.

“And then we intend to introduce a structured career day programme to enable COP members engage directly with the public,” she stated.

The final two weeks — which Usman described as a “minimal period” — will be dedicated to stream-specific training aligned with each corps member’s designated stream, based on their choice, academic background and skill profile.

The 11 specialised streams

Under the new framework, every corps member will be required to pick one of 11 specialised streams upon registration. Usman listed them as:

1. Agric Corps
2. Medical Corps
3. Education Corps
4. Tech and Digital Corps
5. Legal Corps
6. Public Service Corps
7. Infrastructure Corps
8. Green Corps
9. Enterprise Corps
10. Creative Economy Corps
11. Paramilitary and Security Corps

Once a corps member registers under a stream, they will be recognised accordingly — for instance, as a member of the Medical Corps — and will receive specialised training tailored to that stream during the final two weeks of orientation.

Usman said the streams were designed to equip graduates with practical skills tailored to their academic backgrounds, career interests and the needs of Nigeria’s workforce.

Deployment will now factor in security realities

Usman said the reform also reviews how corps members are posted across states, with greater consideration given to prevailing security challenges in different parts of the country. This builds on the “risk-sensitive deployment” Olawande had earlier described as part of the broader reform package.

Leadership changes from military to civilian

NYSC will now be headed by a civilian, while the military will continue to provide security for corps members nationwide — a structure Usman said reflects the administration’s broader push to build the human capital needed for a $1 trillion economy.

New uniform and graduation ceremony

The reform also introduces a redesigned NYSC uniform “that reflects professionalism and national pride,” Olawande said, replacing the current outfit corps members have worn since the scheme’s creation. The Passing Out Parade will also be scrapped in favour of a new graduation ceremony.

Camp standards nationwide will be upgraded through a national grading and certification system, according to Olawande, as part of efforts to standardise the orientation experience across all NYSC camps.

Why now

Usman said the reform touches “all the strategic aspects” of NYSC — from registration and deployment modalities to camp duration and recognition of corps members’ skill sets — and represents the first holistic review of the scheme in its 53-year history.

The FEC has directed the Attorney-General of the Federation, working with the Federal Ministry of Youth Development, to amend the NYSC Act and its regulations to give legal backing to the approved changes.

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